On Valentine’s day we hosted our first long lunch at Vineyard Cottages. Guests, friends and family enjoyed an imaginative eleven courses, whipped together by Chef Des Harris and his team. With a strong focus on celebrating the seasonal and local produce from around the region, we kicked off with some delicious hay baked oysters warmed very quickly on the Weber. It was a dish I’d tried many years ago at a BBQ in New England. It was a wonderful warm autumn ‘fall’ evening and a couple of ex Gramercy Tavern manned the BBQ putting dishes on the table I have dreamt about ever since. Recreating it as the kick off course for our long lunches was a dream come true and I think we created those memories for our guests that day.
10KM up the road from Vineyard Cottages is the historic township of Helensville, where an amazing hidden gem shines brightly for the locals. The Real Bread Project pumps out incredible sourdough and pastries to very grateful residents. Dan and his team not only rise at the crack of dawn to get baking but mill their own flour as well. From this little bakery our guests were treated to three different types of sourdough with a generous lashing of Te Kouka Olive Oil, a grove of 2000 trees in Kaukapapa. Something as simple as amazing sourdough and oil ticked all the boxes. Keeping it all about the North West we filled a plate with local charcuterie from Aotea Organics in Shelly Beach with a chicken liver parfait Chef Harris, there was a large amount of oooooo’s and ahhhhhhh’s from the tables.
The plums and beets dish took everyone by surprise. A brightly coloured combination of pickled beets, plums, the incredible stracciatella from Massimo in Dairy Flat and fig leaf oil from our fig tree called for more rounds of the Real Bread Project sourdough so everyone could mop up as much of the creamy residue on the plate. There are occasions when a wedge of lettuce on a plate can look and sound like a huge disappointment, but as we proved it can be the highlight of a meal. Preserved lemon mayonnaise, fresh crisp little gem lettuces, cured egg yolk and parmesan turned smiles upwards and everyone agreed it was the dish that they were least looking forward too but blew their taste buds. Humble but perfect.
Long line snapper, sweet and sour tomatoes and sweet corn followed with a drift of silence as everyone tucked in. A business associate of mine bought her husband to the lunch and admitted she really didn’t like kumara. I had to smile when I walked past her table and she was licking her fingers. The kumara was baked in a salt crust and served with a miso custard and more parmesan. Lots of fingers wiping up the remains of the sauce and more bread ordered just to make sure the miso custard was no longer.
We couldn’t do a long lunch without lamb and slow and low cooked cutlets served with black garlic jus had everyone using the lamb as a mop for the delicious sauce. I’ve got a great team of foodies that work with me here at VC and watching their faces and they devoured the end bits and left over cutlets was a complete joy. Then it was time to sweeten the deal. A Basque cheesecake might have sounded too heavy for such an occasion, but with the complimenting roast stone fruit cutting the creaminess and it wasn’t long before we were piling plates high with our ‘dish du saison’ the blueberry clafoutis. Topped with a limoncello ice cream, those who were starting to wain pushed forward and made sure nothing was left on the plate. We finished with a plate of cheese. Two, I have loved and promoted for years, the Mahoe Very Old Edam and the Mt Eliza Blue Monkey. The Grinning Gecko brie had almost got to running off the plate stage. Served simply with some crackers and fruit from trees it was the most simple but grandest finale we could provide.
There will be many more and I’m looking forward to seeing you there.
Thank you again for the wonderful food and hospitality you provided on Sunday. We look forward to enjoying it again soon
A. Golder
Elle, thank you to you, Des and your teams for an amazing experience on Sunday. It surpassed all previous dining experiences. Thank you. We will be back.
R. Burgen